FROME Town secured another big win on the road, defeating Evesham in a tightly contested affair at the Spiers and Hartwell Jubilee Stadium.
The game marked Non-League Day, and both sides did well to reflect everything that non-league football is about: goals, cards, controversy, end-to-end action – it was a game that had it all.
Kane Simpson made his mark with a hat-trick, which has now boosted Frome’s record to six wins out of the last seven, hitting form at the right time.
There was just the one change from Danny Greaves, which saw Alex Monks come in to the midfield. However the big change was on the bench with the welcome return of Matt Smith, who’d been out with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament for well over a year but is back and ready to play his part at the crunch end of the season.
The game itself was very open to begin, and the wind was making it difficult for the defenders to judge the flight of the ball. Evesham nearly took advantage after just two minutes when Levi Steele played through Ethan Moran, who saw his effort blocked by the foot of Kyle Phillips.
The wind then paid dividends to the Somerset Robins in the fourth minute as a simple long ball looked like it would be dealt with by the Evesham defence, but confusion between the keeper and defender gave Simpson, who never gave up on it, enough time to run in and slot beyond Benjamin Taylor.
Evesham responded well and went close to equalising multiple times. In the 24th minute, they worked the ball down the left hand side, before sending a dangerous ball across the face of goal, which just evaded all the attackers.
Two minutes later, they found themselves in behind the Frome defence again, but Steele could only drag his shot wide of the left post.
After soaking up a fair bit of pressure, chances came the way of the away side. Drew went on a mazy run 28 minutes in but could only send a weak shot straight at the keeper before Jon Davies had a penalty claim turned down after he appeared to be clipped in the box seven minutes later.
In the 38th minute, another huge chance came Frome’s way. Drew played an inch perfect through ball to James Ollis, whose side-footed effort was blocked by Taylor, who narrowed the angle down well.
The BA11 side would finally double their lead just before the break. After good work from Davies to block the defender’s clearance, it fell to Simpson, who drove forward before playing a quick one-two with Ollis, taking a touch before firing home.
Despite having a two-goal cushion at the interval, the game was far from over. Evesham looked dangerous in the first 45, and you knew they definitely wouldn’t go down without a fight.
And that’s exactly how the half started, as the Worcestershire Robins came out of the blocks fast and grabbed an early goal in the 51st minute. Aaron Heap’s cross found Willian Owens at the back post; he made no mistake with his headed finish into the top corner, cutting the deficit to one.
The away side did respond well to the goal and nearly found the back of the net five minutes later, when Warren Maidment met a Davies free-kick but couldn’t generate the power behind his header to trouble the keeper.
The two-goal cushion was then restored in the 63rd minute, along with a hat-trick for Simpson, who latched on to another over the top through ball, chipping over the keeper with his effort, which clipped the post before trickling home.
It didn’t last long though, as Evesham were awarded a penalty after a foul in the box just a minute later. Steele made no mistake from the spot, sending his effort into the bottom left corner.
The remainder of the game was nervy, but to be honest, it looked more likely that there was going to be a fourth Frome goal than an equaliser. Ollis, Simpson and Davies all went close but to no avail.
The home team’s biggest threat came from set pieces and crosses, which were dealt with expertly by the back three of Sam Teale, Matt Wood and Warren Maidment, with Will Taylor and Joe Budd playing their part as well.
The 87th minute saw the return of Matt Smith, who came on for Zak Drew in his first game since August 2022, which, weirdly enough, was also against Evesham. Some things are just meant to be. The full-time whistle was then blown, and another huge three points were secured away from home.
It’s Bideford up next week, back at home and they always prove to be a tough test, so we’ll need as many of you at The Hill as possible to support the players.
Match report by Harrison Richards.
